What is Textile Printing?
Textile printing is the process of applying colors, patterns, or designs to fabrics in a specific, controlled manner. Unlike dyeing, which colors the entire fabric uniformly, printing applies color to specific areas to form distinct patterns. It is an essential decorative technique widely used in fashion, home textiles, and technical applications. Designers create print designs and manufacturers produce sample yardage. Setup of some textile printing methods can be labor-intensive and require screens to be created for transferring the design to the material. After setup, the manufacturer does a test run, or strike-off, to check for accuracy and alignment of colors within the print design. Registration refers to the alignment of each color within a pattern design.
Fabric minimums designate the smallest amount of fabric yardage that can be ordered. Fabric is printed in different run lengths, depending on the purpose and yardage required. Sampling is a very small run length of 3.3 yards (3 meters) of fabric that is printed and submitted for evaluation and approval. Sampling may be submitted several times before it is approved and production begins. When sample yardage is evaluated, color match and registration are key factors. Color must be accurate and be precisely aligned for aesthetic and quality purposes. Coupon printing is a small run length of 33 yards (30 meters) of fabric. Collection or catalogue printing is a run length of 109 yards (100 meters) of material. Typically, a minimum run length of 109 yards (100 meters) is used for production yardage by small to midsize brands and apparel manufacturers. Production printing is a minimum run length of 328 yards (300 meters).
Textile Printing Methods
The most common methods for printing textile production yardage include block printing, flatbed screens, roller printing, rotary screens, and digital printing. Approximately 99 percent of production fabric yardage is printed using flatbed or rotary screen systems, although digital printing is becoming increasingly more important.
A. Block Printing:
One of the oldest methods, block printing involves carving a design onto wooden blocks, applying dye to the block, and pressing it onto the fabric. This process is repeated to build up the complete pattern, often using multiple blocks for different colors. It is labor-intensive and best suited for small-scale or artisanal production, not for industrial use. It has artistic appeal but time-consuming and limited color application per stamping.
B. Flatbed Screen Printing (Automatic Screen Printing)
An intermittent printing method that utilizes screens made of nylon mesh. Screens are coated with a photosensitive film and processed to remove the film only in portions containing the pattern design. The screen is stretched onto a metal frame and loaded onto a continuous rubber belt known as a printing blanket. Whole rolls of fabric are loaded and printed at one time. Fabric moves along a belt and stops at each screen, where a squeegee passes over the screen, transferring colorant paste to the fabric. Each color requires its own screen. The maximum range of colors in prints using this method is 12 to 16. Flatbed screen printing output is approximately 500 yards per hour (450 meters per hour) and is used for small-scale production or more complex work.
C. Roller Printing:
Roller printing, also known as cylinder printing or machine printing, is a textile printing technique. It is a mechanical method of printing designs onto fabric using engraved rollers (cylinders). Roller printing is one of the oldest and fastest continuous printing processes, especially suitable for long runs of patterned fabrics like dress materials, bed linens, and upholstery. This method revolutionized textile production by enabling the rapid and precise application of colored patterns to fabric, replacing earlier, slower hand-printing methods such as copperplate and woodblock printing
D. Rotary Screen Printing:
A continuous printing method where the cylinder-shaped screens are made of metal mesh. Screens are engraved with the design. Whole rolls of fabric are loaded and printed at one time. The fabric moves along a continuous rubber belt known as a printing blanket, and the cylinder rolls over the fabric, transferring the print design to the material. Each color requires its own screen. The maximum range of colors in prints using this method is 12 to 16. Although the rotary screen printing process can accommodate maximum color ranges of 24 to 32, these designs are very expensive to prepare, therefore increasing the fabric cost significantly. Dyes or pigment pastes can be used. The maximum output for rotary screen printing using pigment pastes is approximately 120 yards per minute (100 meters per minute). When dyes are used, the maximum speed must be reduced to 45 to 90 yards per minute (40 to 80 meters per minute). Rotary screen printing is used for large-scale production runs. The repeat design is limited to the diameter of the cylinder. Common cylinder sizes include 25 inches, 27 inches, 32 inches, and 36 inches.
E. Digital Printing:
A continuous printing method using an inkjet printer that directly applies dye from the print-head to pretreated fabric. The CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, and black) color space for mixing and printing colors is used. The printhead applies tiny droplets of ink to mix the colors that appear on the fabric’s surface. Development of digital printing ink technology continues as chemists research formulations to eliminate additional post processing needed to fix the color to the surface of fabric such as pigment-based and nano colorants (dye or pigment particles having dimensions smaller than 100 nanometers). With this method, fabric designs can be printed with virtually unlimited colors and without repeats. Photorealism can be achieved as well. The maxi-mum output for the quickest digital printers is less than 120 yards per hour (100 meters per hour). Digital printing also allows for direct-to-garment printing.
Conclusion
Textile printing is a dynamic field combining traditional artistry with modern technology. Textile printing offers a wide range of methods, each with unique advantages and limitations. Each printing method serves specific production needs — from handmade block prints to high-speed roller printing and flexible digital printing. The choice of printing method depends on factors such as fabric type, production volume, design complexity, and cost efficiency. With ongoing innovations, textile printing continues to evolve, offering endless possibilities in fashion, interior decoration, and technical textiles.
Editor of Fashion2Apparel. She is a fashion designer and ex-lecturer in Fashion Designing. She wants to spread fashion knowledge throughout the world.
